1. Field
The present disclosure relates to an electric motor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In conventional electric motors, lubricating oil is stored in the lower part of a housing which forms a motor chamber and a coil end of a stator is immersed in the oil so that the stator coil is cooled. Accordingly, the lower part of the housing may form a storage tank that stores the lubricating oil.
An inner space of the storage tank is separated by a stator core which is fixed at the center in the axial direction of the motor chamber so that the lubricating oil stored in the storage tank is divided into one side and the other side in the axial direction. In the following description, a portion of the tank formed by the storage tank (housing) and the stator core which stores the lubricating oil on one side with respect to the stator core in the axial direction is referred to as a first storage tank, while a portion of the tank which stores the lubricating oil on the other side in the axial direction is referred to as a second storage tank.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-121553 discloses an electric motor which includes a communication passage that communicates the first storage tank with the second storage tank. The communication passage allows the oil level of the lubricating oil in the first storage tank and the oil level of the lubricating oil in the second storage tank to be equal so that the coil end immersed in the oil in the first storage tank and the coil end immersed in the oil in the second storage tank are equally cooled.